Dr Suman Bery Appointed As Vice Chairman Of NITI Aayog After Rajiv Kumar Steps Down

Rajiv Kumar took over as vice chairman in August 2017 after his predecessor Arvind Panagariya left the NITI Aayog.

NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar (RajivKumar/Twitter)

Source : RajivKumar/Twitter

New Delhi: NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar, who was appointed to the policy think tank five years ago, has decided to step down, PTI reported. Rajiv Kumar took over as vice chairman in August 2017 after his predecessor Arvind Panagariya left the NITI Aayog. Dr Suman K Bery has been appointed as the new vice-chairman.

Dr Suman K Bery appointed as Vice-Chairman of the NITI Aayog after Dr Rajiv Kumar stepped down from his post. pic.twitter.com/6vQ9HWUSNJ

— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2022

Bery will take charge from May 1, 2022, an official order said. Kumar's tenure will end on April 30. According to the order, Kumar's resignation has been accepted and he would be relieved from the post with effect from April 30.

Dr. Kumar has a Ph.D in Economics from Lucknow University (1978) and a D.Phil from Oxford University (1982).

After completing his D.Phil at Oxford, Dr. Kumar started his academic career in the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Delhi as a Program Coordinator during 1982-1987. 

He was a Professor at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) from 1987-89. He later became the Director & CEO of ICRIER between 2006 and 2011. He served as Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) from 2013-16, Delhi. He founded the Pahle India Foundation, a non-profit making research think tank in 2013, which he also headed till 2017. 

His earlier stints in the government were as Senior Consultant at the Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices (BICP), Ministry of Industry from 1989-1991 and as Economic Advisor with Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance from 1991-1994.

His experience in the multilateral financial institutions was with Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, where he spent 10 years before returning to India in 2004. He also worked as Consultant to UNCTAD, UNIDO and the World Bank.

He was the Chief Economist of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) from 2004-2006 and Secretary General of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) during 2011-2013.

He has also served on the Central Boards of State Bank of India for two terms and on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Bery had earlier served as the Director-General (Chief Executive) of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi. He was also a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Statistical Commission and the Reserve Bank of India's Technical Advisory Committee on Monetary Policy.